Future Max Returns
by ema321
Summary: One-Shot of what could have happened after End Of The World. Don't hate me. I was depressed. Like Liz.


It has been two months since my life ended. The day that I lied to Max, making him think that I slept with Kyle, that was the day I died.

I finally told Maria everything that happened with Future Max three weeks ago. Now she has decided that it is all Max's fault, the rest of the 'Pod-squad', too. She refuses to talk to them. She said, and I quote, "Ever since that gerbil-faced cow came into town, everyone's life has been destroyed. Michael stopped talking to me, Isabel basically told Alex that she would never want him, and Max … I can't believe what he asked you to do. God, I hate them all."

Maybe she's right. Maybe our lives were ruined when Tess came with her 'Destiny'. Or maybe they were ruined when we all found out about the aliens. I don't know. But I'm sick of it.

I haven't told Maria or Alex, or anyone, but my parents have now officially put me into therapy. My mom decided that writing in my journal wasn't enough anymore. She says I need professional help. But who can I talk to? If I tell the therapist everything, I'll be put into a mental institute. The only other option is the FBI, but we all know what'll happen then, so …

"Lizzie? Honey, can I come in?" My dad asks me.

"Sure dad." He opens the door and sits on my bed. "What's up?"

"Well, your mom and I have been thinking, why don't we go on vacation? The sea, the sun, new air? What do you think?"

I smiled hesitantly. "Thanks dad. That would be great … but I don't really want to go away right now. I need Maria. And I need my home." Then I thought of a new plan. "Why don't you and Mom go? I mean, when have you guys ever had time to just be together. Not for work or for me … just for yourselves."

"That's a nice thought honey, but …"

"Dad, don't worry about me. I'll ask Maria to stay over and we can make it a girls week. I've needed something like that anyway."

He sighed. I knew that he wanted to get me out of Roswell, and away from Max. I didn't want to go though. No matter what happens, I have to be near him. He's like my life line. I do stay away from him, but I need to feel his presence just to be able to get on with my day.

"Okay, honey. I'll talk to your mom about it. You're right. We do need some time alone." He grinned and walk out of the door. "Oh, and Liz? It's time for your shift." He added.

I sighed. Work. The only other thing that kept me busy. Being in school and talking to Maria were the only things that kept my mind off the future. That kept my mind off Max. Work kept my hands busy, but not my mind.

I went downstairs and changed into my uniform.

"Hey, girlfriend. How are you today?" I heard Maria ask.

"I'm fine, 'Ria. How about you?" I replied.

"Ugh. Space-boy is working today. And here I was hoping for some peace of mind." She sighed.

"You'll never get that in Roswell." I said to her, laughing.

Then suddenly there was a flash of light in front of us. I opened my eyes in horror. There, right in front of me, was a man in his early thirties wearing leather. He had an expression on his face that you only see from a man who has nothing left to live for. His hair was longer and tied out of the way. But his eyes … they were ageless. I always got lost in those eyes. Future Max was back.

"Liz. I need your help again. Things aren't going very great." He said to me.

I couldn't process it. No. He couldn't be back. I changed everything. I done what I could. Why can't he just leave me alone?

"Max. Now is not a good time. Just … go upstairs into my room, and Maria and I will join you after our shift has finished." I said calmly. I have no idea how I was calm. My heart was going a mile a minute, and my vision was starting to get cloudy.

"Okay. I'll meet you up there. Oh, and bring Alex too. This concerns all three of you." He said walking upstairs.

Not wanting to answer any questions, I walked into the restaurant and started to work, but Maria didn't give up. She pulled on my arm and dragged me closer to her, which was closer to the 'pod-squad'.

"Liz. Is that Future Max?" She whispered. I didn't want to talk so I just nodded. "Oh, my God! Why the hell has he come back for? I can't believe this. Ruining your life once just isn't good enough for him, is it?" She shouted.

"Maria, keep it down. Czechoslovakians are around, remember?" I glanced behind me and noticed Max watching with interest.

"Sorry. But I can't believe him. I thought that you already fixed the future. Now you have to do it again?" She whispered.

"Maria, just wait until after our shift. We'll talk to him and we'll … um … find out what he wants this time. Okay?"

She nodded, but I could notice a glint in her eyes. One that you only saw when she was going to go crazy on someone. I hoped that it wasn't me.

Then I heard the song on the radio. It was … it used to be … my favourite song. Now … I despised it.

_Come to me now  
__And lay your hands over me  
__Even if it's a lie  
__Say it will be alright  
__And I shall believe_

_I'm broken in two  
__And I know your on to me  
__That I only come home  
__When I'm so all alone  
__But I do believe_

_That not everything is gonna be the way  
__You think it ought to be  
__It seems like everytime I try to make it right  
__It all comes down on me  
__Please say honestly  
__You won't give on me  
__And I shall believe  
__I shall believe_

My heart started beating faster, and my breathing got quicker.

_Open the door  
__And show me your face tonight  
__I know it's true  
__No one heals me like you  
__And you hold the key_

_Never again  
__Would I turn away from you  
__I'm so heavy tonight  
__But your love is alright  
__And I do believe_

My ears went fuzzy and I couldn't hear anything.

_That not everything is gonna be the way  
__You think it ought to be  
__It seems like everytime I try to make it right  
__It all comes down on me  
__Please say honestly  
__You won't give on me  
__And I shall believe  
__I shall believe  
__I shall believe_

Finally, my vision got cloudy … then darkness came.

"Liz."

"Lizzie?"

"Liz, wake up. Please."

"Maria?" I whispered.

"I'm here, chica. What happened?" she asked.

I thought about it. "I don't know. I think it might have been … the shock, you know?" I told her. I could feel everyone's eyes on my, wanting me to elaborate. I didn't.

"Yeah babe, I know. I hear ya. But we just have to get through it, you know? We can do it."

So that was it. I went through my shift, not once looking at Max, who, thankfully, was sat in Sarah's section (he didn't know this because last night I called her and begged her to switch with me. He had only just started coming back and I didn't want to talk to him yet). The real problem was Michael. I couldn't not talk to him, because he was working and I had to talk to him to give him my orders. I tried my best to avoid any other conversation with him, but he wouldn't stop trying. Finally it was closing time.

"Thanks, Michael, but we can close up from here." I said, trying to get him to go earlier.

"You're not going to cut it from my pay, are you?" He asked.

I shook my head no and he walked out the door. Alex moved to follow him, but I held him back.

"Not you. We need to talk to you."

Maria and I dragged Alex upstairs to my room. I looked around and noticed that Future Max wasn't there.

"Um … Liz? Where is he?" Maria asked.

I sighed. "Balcony."

That's where he showed up the first time. He knew how much that balcony meant to me. I lost everything there. I just hoped that I was going to get something back this time, because I don't think my heart could take anymore.

When we got on the balcony, Future Max turned towards us.

"Liz … I am so sorry to have to do this to you again. I know how you felt about my last visit." He said looking guiltily around him. That's when I noticed my journal on the table beside him.

"You read my _journal_!" I screamed. "Do you even know me at all Max? Because you know that I never, ever, let anyone touch it! It has everything in there! God, Max!"

Maria just looked like she was going to kill him. She knew that everyone deserved their own privacy and hated anyone who crossed that line.

Alex was in shock. I didn't know whether it was the fact that Future Max read my journal, or whether it was because Future Max was there. I never told him about the last visit.

"Sorry Liz. But you know that we never keep secrets from each other." He whispered.

I sighed. "That may be so in you timeline, Max. But right now, you and I don't talk. We keep to ourselves and we don't share secrets. I haven't told him anything about the last time you came. And he doesn't tell me anything anymore. Unless he needs my help and then he tells me stuff, but only the basics." I stopped to catch my breath and to try and stop the tears that I knew were going to come.

"Are you happy now Max? This was all your doing … to get you closer to Tess and it still hasn't worked. I feel like there is a hole where my heart used to be … because it's not there anymore. It hasn't been there since I pretended to sleep with Kyle. All for you! And now we … I don't even … I can't even look at you without feeling hurt and guilty about that. I hate the fact that you came here. I hate that you changed everything! Why couldn't you just leave it? Tell me and let me have my future … my wedding … my happiness! I would have found some way to keep us alive. Do you have so little faith in me that you had to get together with Tess? I … I can't …"

I couldn't go any further. I could barely breathe. So I turned away from him, and Maria took over.

"Did you know … Future Max … that my chica over here is so depressed that she can't even get up on a morning. I have to help her do that. Her parents are worried about her. Whenever they leave town, I have to stay with her so they can be sure that she is safe. You - your younger self that is - are so close to getting kicked out of the CD for good. Jeff hates your guts! They've had to put Liz in therapy!"

I looked at Maria in shock. I didn't know that she knew. And now Alex knew also … but he looked like he already knew about it.

"All of us are worried about her. For the past month, we haven't talked to you aliens because of Liz - for Liz. Everytime she sees you, she wants to run from the room, screaming in pain! I don't know the full story of what happened, but I know the effects. And they are not worth all of this hate!" Alex shouted.

I took a deep breath. I loved my friends. I should have told Alex and Maria as soon as it was over. They could have supported me and helped me when I needed it most.

I looked over to Future Max and he looked ashamed.

"I know the effects. I'm not from the same timeline as the last Future Max. I'm from this one. But you already knew that. The previous Max disappeared. Liz … I am so sorry about all of this. I love you. And I hate that all of this has happened. But you can't do what you are thinking of."

I was shocked. How did he know I wanted to-? But then again, it must have worked if he is here to change it all.

"Okay, so you want to change something else. What is it?" Maria asked, getting impatient.

"Sorry Maria. You and Alex have to stop Liz from killing herself."

My two best friends looked at me in shock. "I haven't done anything. It was just a thought running through my head." I mumbled.

"Frequently." Future Max added. "Liz, you can't die. We need you. All of us. I know Maria and Alex will admit it now for you, but the rest of us do too. Two weeks from today, you jump off a cliff after one of our meetings by the quarry. Tess and I were getting closer and it was like a stab through the heart for you. So … you waited until we had all gone … and you jumped off. I was the one who found out first because of our connection. It felt like a knife in the chest and I knew you were in trouble. By the time I got to you, you were already dead. I couldn't save you." He paused to wipe away the tears that he had shed. "After that, we went to your home. On your bed was a letter for me. Here, read it."

He showed me a letter, and I knew it word for word. It was already written. I gave it to Maria and she read it out loud;

_Dear Max,_

_If you are reading this, it means that I am dead. I know that you probably don't want to hear all the babble that come out of a depressed women … but you need to know the truth._

_I never slept with Kyle. You can ask him yourself. Ask Maria too. She knows all the details where Kyle was just the pawn. The basic story is, you came to me from the future and told me that if I didn't get you to fall in love with Tess, and to fall out of love with me, the world would end after 14 years of an unending war with the skins and Khivar. The reason why the world ends is because Tess left. You and I got closer and she was upset by it. Without her there was no four-square and you were all powerless in the fight against Khivar._

_I tried everything I could to get you to stop loving me, which was so hard because all I wanted was your love. So I did the only thing I knew would get you to hate me … I slept with Kyle, or at least made it look like I did. If you want to know the full story, ask Maria, or read my journal. Michael knows where it is hidden._

_I am so sorry for all the hurt and pain that I have put you through. You wouldn't have been exposed if it wasn't for me, so you wouldn't have been tortured. I know that you still have fears about that place. And then you wouldn't have risked everything on a daily basis for us pathetic humans._

_I know that you and Tess are meant to be, and I'm happy you've accepted you destiny. But I know that a part of you will never truly love her with me around. So … I'm taking myself out of the equation._

_I love you Max. More than you will ever know._

_Liz_

The letter was crinkled and folded so you could tell it had been read a lot. I couldn't look at my friends, so I just turned and sat in a chair facing away from them.

"Liz … tell me that you haven't already written this letter." Maria whispered. She was afraid. For me and for us all. "Liz, tell me!"

She took my silence as confirmation. All three of them did.

Alex looked at me with tears in his eyes. "Liz … why would you do something like this?" He asked me.

"Because it hurts! It hurts so much I can't breathe. God, I love you and Maria, but I just … I can't cope without him. Maria, take your feelings for Michael … when you loved him the most. And Alex, take yours for Isabel. Now multiply them be a thousand. And then they are taken away from you, how would you feel?" I cried.

"Devastated." Alex whispered.

"Suicidal." Maria mumbled.

"Precisely. Now you know how I feel and why I can't manage. I refuse to leave this town because I need Max's energy to function. I need to feel his presence to move. I-"

The phone started ringing.

I walked over to it and put it on speaker.

"Hello?"

"_Liz?"_

"Yeah?"

"_Hey Liz, it's Isabel. We need to meet up with you guys. Science stuff. Can we come to the Crashdown?"_

"Yeah, sure. It's open. We'll meet you here."

"_Okay. See you in two."_

"Bye Isabel."

I turned back to the others and noticed that Future Max had a look of fear.

"Max? What's wrong?" I asked him.

"Tonight is when I gave the final push. Maria, whatever you do, do not leave Liz's side. You too Alex. She's going to need you and soon. When it's over … talk to her. Please."

They quickly nodded their heads. He looked too afraid to disagree with.

I walked downstairs to the Crashdown and Maria, Alex and I sat at the bar.

"Why did you do it, Liz?" Maria asked me.

"Do what?"

"Write that note. I know that you are probably hurting … but suicide? It isn't the best way Liz. Talk to Max, tell him the truth!" she yelled.

I looked at her in confusion. I thought that we had already covered this. Just as I was about to answer, I noticed the others coming towards the door. "Maria. Right now is not the best time." I told her.

"No! Now is the perfect time to talk about this! Why Liz? Do you honestly think that we could all manage without you?" Alex screamed at me.

Half-way through his speech, the Pod-Squad walked through the doors.

"Not now, okay! God! If you want to ask questions wait until we are alone. Then I _might _tell you why!" I cried.

I looked up to greet to everyone and notice they all had looks of shock on their faces. I don't know whether it was what Alex said, or my reply to him. Then I noticed Max and Tess. They were holding hands, and Max … he had a faint impression of Tess's lipstick on his face.

I saw Maria run up to Michael. He grabbed her in a hug and glared at me. Alex walked over to Isabel and she gently touched his cheek. Everyone could see we had all been crying.

I stood there and realised something. I didn't belong here. Maria had Michael, even if he was the world's worst boyfriend, she still had him. Alex had Isabel, who sometime came off a bit cold, but I knew why. She was scared. And then there was Max. He seemed to have moved on quick enough. Tess was all over him.

I felt sick. I couldn't … and I shouldn't … be here. I glanced around again and noticed that Maria was too busy trying not to cry again, and Alex was busy feeling the warmth of Isabel's touch … so I ran. I ran back upstairs and into Future Max's arms.

Max-POV

I watched as Liz ran up into her room, and I somehow felt … guilty. Like it was my fault she ran.

"Maria? What's going on with Liz?" Isabel asked, while comforting Alex, who was trying not to cry.

"It's nothing Isabel. Liz is just … planning something we don't agree with." She replied and Alex nodded. "So … what's this meeting about?" Maria said looking at me. Her eyes widened, her mouth snapped open and she suddenly went pale. "ALEX!" She screamed.

"What? What is it 'Ria?" Alex answered calmly.

Maria pointed at me and said, "The final push!"

I was confused. What did they mean.

"Oh, my God. 'Stick beside her. Don't let her leave your sights.' That's exactly what we did Maria. And now she's ...

BANG!

"LIZ!" Maria and Alex screamed. I was so confused. But I knew what I had to do. I ran up the stairs ... only to find the worst thing that I could ever had imagined. Liz's body on the ground, a gun in her hand, and blood ... everywhere.

"MAX! SAVE HER!" Maria shouted.

I walked over and tried to heal her again, but it was no use. Her heart had stopped. She was dead. My Liz had shot herself. She'd ... wait there's a letter.

Oh no. What have I done? I've killed her. She never slept with Kyle. She tried to hurt me purposefully to keep me and the others safe. All because I'd asked her too. What have I done?

* * *

_Just a little drabble that entered my mind. Angsty, I know, and I know it shouldn't happen because I'm a dreamer at heart. I wrote while in a depressing mood and this was the outcome. Please don't hate me._

_For those of you who read Alternative Universe . . . I will be back. I'm just having a bit of writers block at the moment. If you think you can help . . . let me know._

_xoxo_


End file.
